Story and Photographs by: Lucy Gordan

When in Rome, dine as the Romans did.
Feast on some of the ancients favorite dishes served in restaurants
surrounded by the awe-inspiring ruins of their civilization.
You'll get a new perspective on Italian cuisine and
architecture at Rome's earliest restaurants.

The ancient Romans were the world's first recorded gourmets. They owe their obsession with food, at least in part, to fellow citizen Marcus Gabius, better-known as Apicius”“meaning “bald like a ewe's stomach"” or sought after by bees hence sweet. He was a wealthy and decadent epicure, who in the first century wrote De Re Coquinaria, (Concerning Culinary Matters), the world's first cookbook.

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Guests enjoying dinner or breakfast from the Hassler Rooftop Restaurant are experiencing the first panoramic restaurant ever built in Rome, and are awed by the breathtaking view of the city from this historic venue, including a view of Vatican City. Artists and poets, including Keats, Shelley, Dickens and Ruskin, as well as an endless number of great Italian artists, have lived near the Trinita dei Monti since its inception in the 18th century. Many of these artists were awarded the coveted Prix de Roma by the French Academy, located nearby.

After his suicide, De Re Coquinaria was copied and recopied. The oldest two surviving manuscripts, both 4th-century, are in the Vatican Library and the New York Academy of Medicine (tel. 212-876-8200). For a taste of Apicius cooking in your own kitchen, consult Ilaria Gozzini Giacosa's A Taste of Ancient Rome (University of Chicago).